Editing Minimum wage (section)

{{short description|Lowest remuneration which can be paid legally in a state for working}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Bar chart
| float       = right
| title       = 2022 minimum wages in the [[OECD]],<br />in US dollars [[purchasing power parity]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=RMW | title=Real minimum wages from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development | publisher=Stats.oecd.org | access-date=15 February 2021 }}</ref>{{Update inline|date=January 2024}}
| label_type  = Country
| data_type   = Dollars per hour
| bar_width   = 15
| width_units = em
| data_max    = 24
| data1       = 13.60
| label1      = Australia									
| data2       = 13.60
| label2      = Luxembourg	
| data3       = 13.50
| label3      = Germany
| data4       = 13.50
| label4      = France
| data5       = 13.20
| label5      = New Zealand
| data6       = 12.60
| label6      = Belgium
| data7       = 12.00
| label7      = Netherlands
| data8       = 11.80
| label8      = United Kingdom
| data9      = 11.40
| label9      = Spain
| data10      = 11.10
| label10     = Canada
| data11      = 10.10
| label11     = Ireland
| data12      = 9.60
| label12     = Slovenia
| data13      = 9.50
| label13     = South Korea
| data14      = 8.80
| label14     = Turkey
| data15      = 8.50
| label15     = Japan
| data16      = 8.40
| label16     = Poland
| data17      = 8.00
| label17     = Lithuania
| data18      = 7.40
| label18     = Portugal
| data19      = 7.25
| label19     = United States
| data20      = 7.00
| label20     = Israel
| data21      = 6.60
| label21     = Romania
| data22      = 6.30
| label22     = Czech Republic
| data23      = 6.20
| label23     = Croatia
| data24      = 6.20
| label24     = Hungary
| data25      = 5.90
| label25     = Greece
| data26      = 5.70
| label26     = Estonia
| data27      = 5.70
| label27     = Slovakia
| data28      = 4.80
| label28     = Latvia
| data29      = 4.30
| label29     = Bulgaria
| data30      = 4.10
| label30     = Costa Rica
| data31      = 3.7
| label31     = Chile
| data32      = 1.60
| label32     = Mexico
}}
A '''minimum wage''' is the lowest [[remuneration]] that employers can legally pay their employees—the [[price floor]] below which employees may not sell their labor. [[List of countries by minimum wage|Most countries had introduced minimum wage]] legislation by the end of the 20th century.<ref name="ILO 2006">{{cite web|url=http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/condtrav/pdf/infosheets/w-1.pdf|title=ILO 2006: Minimum wages policy (PDF)|publisher=Ilo.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229085643/http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/condtrav/pdf/infosheets/w-1.pdf|archive-date=29 December 2009|url-status=live|access-date=1 March 2012}}</ref> Because minimum wages increase the [[cost of labor]], companies often try to avoid minimum wage laws by using [[gig worker]]s, by moving labor to locations with lower or nonexistent minimum wages, or by [[Automation|automating job functions]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larsson |first1=Anthony |last2=Teigland |first2=Robin |title=The digital transformation of labor: Automation, the gig economy and welfare |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge Studies in Labour Economics |location=Routledge, London |doi=10.4324/9780429317866 |hdl=10419/213906 |isbn=978-0-429-31786-6 |s2cid=213586833 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429317866 |access-date=13 February 2021 }}</ref> Minimum wage policies can vary significantly between countries or even within a country, with different regions, sectors, or age groups having their own minimum wage rates. These variations are often influenced by factors such as the cost of living, regional economic conditions, and industry-specific factors.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Neumark|first=David|date=2019|title=The Econometrics and Economics of the Employment Effects of Minimum Wages: Getting from Known Unknowns to Known Knowns|journal=German Economic Review|volume=20|issue=3|pages=e1–e32|doi=10.1111/geer.12162|s2cid=55558316 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/geer.12162|access-date=23 April 2023}}</ref>

The movement for minimum wages was first motivated as a way to stop the exploitation of workers in [[sweatshop]]s, by employers who were thought to have unfair bargaining power over them. Over time, minimum wages came to be seen as a way to help lower-income families. Modern national laws enforcing compulsory union membership which prescribed minimum wages for their members were first passed in New Zealand in 1894.<ref>{{Cite news |title=A brief history of the minimum wage in New Zealand |language=en |work=Newshub |url=https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2018/12/a-brief-history-of-the-minimum-wage-in-new-zealand.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219114446/https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2018/12/a-brief-history-of-the-minimum-wage-in-new-zealand.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 December 2018 |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref> Although [[minimum wage law]]s are now in effect in many jurisdictions, differences of opinion exist about the benefits and drawbacks of a minimum wage. Additionally, minimum wage policies can be implemented through various methods, such as directly legislating specific wage rates, setting a formula that adjusts the minimum wage based on economic indicators, or having wage boards that determine minimum wages in consultation with representatives from employers, employees, and the government.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dube|first=Arindrajit|title=Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania|journal=American Economic Review|year=1994|volume=84|issue=4|pages=772–793|jstor=2118030 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2118030|access-date=23 April 2023}}</ref>

[[Supply and demand]] models suggest that there may be employment losses from minimum wages; however, minimum wages can increase the efficiency of the labor market in [[monopsony]] scenarios, where individual employers have a degree of wage-setting power over the market as a whole.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/15-minimum-wage|title=$15 Minimum Wage|website=www.igmchicago.org|access-date=7 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Thomas C. |last=Leonard |chapter=The Very Idea of Apply Economics: The Modern Minimum-Wage Controversy and Its Antecedents |title=Toward a History of Applied Economics |editor-first=Roger E. |editor-last=Backhouse |editor2-first=Jeff |editor2-last=Biddle |location=Durham |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-6485-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/towardhistoryofa0000unse/page/117 117–144] |year=2000 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/towardhistoryofa0000unse |url=https://archive.org/details/towardhistoryofa0000unse/page/117 }}</ref><ref name="Gwartney">{{cite book |last1=Gwartney |first1=James David |first2=J. R. |last2=Clark |first3=Richard L. |last3=Stroup |year=1985 |title=Essentials of Economics |page=[https://archive.org/details/essentialsofecon00gwar/page/405 405] |publisher=Harcourt College Pub; 2 edition |location=New York |isbn=978-0123110350 |url=https://archive.org/details/essentialsofecon00gwar/page/405 }}</ref> Supporters of the minimum wage say it increases the [[standard of living]] of workers, [[poverty reduction|reduces poverty]], reduces inequality, and boosts morale.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theperspective.com/debates/living/raise-minimum-wage/|title=Should We Raise The Minimum Wage?|date=30 August 2017|publisher=The Perspective|access-date=4 September 2017|archive-date=25 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725024634/https://www.theperspective.com/debates/living/raise-minimum-wage/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In contrast, opponents of the minimum wage say it increases poverty and [[unemployment]] because some low-wage workers "will be unable to find work ... [and] will be pushed into the ranks of the unemployed".<ref name="WSJ100309">{{cite news|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203440104574402820278669840|title=The Young and the Jobless|date=3 October 2009|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111120719/http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203440104574402820278669840|archive-date=11 January 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Oxford">{{cite book|title=Oxford Dictionary of Economics|last=Black|first=John|date=18 September 2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-860767-0|page=300}}</ref><ref name="Card&Krueger" />